Love Her Madly
by PRiNCeSS WiLDCaT
Summary: Gwen is severely wounded & captured by the DNAliens. When Ben & Kevin finally find her again, she has been brainwashed to forget all about both of them. Oh, and she's working for the bad guys now, too. Can Kevin find a way to make her remember him? Gwevin
1. Under Pressure

_Hi, everyone! This marks my return to after an almost two-year hiatus. I used to write Inuyasha fics under a different name, but now that I'm all grown up I like Ben 10 Alien Force better. (Mwahaha, yes, I know that's very ironic.) This story is DEFINITELY Gwevin (as if there were any other option for me) with a few Julie/Ben moments as well. I'm trying my best to keep them in character, but let me know if you think I suck at it. I won't get mad. :)_

_By the way, all the chapters of this story will be named after awesome songs. Because I want them to be. Naming the correct artist of each song in your review will guarantee you a free imaginary cookie. As well as endless amounts of respect from me for knowing good music. :D  
_

* * *

**Love Her Madly**

**A Ben 10 Fanfiction by PRiNCeSS WiLDCaT**

**Chapter One:**

**Under Pressure**

* * *

_"You spurn my natural emotions_

_You make me feel like dirt and I'm hurt_

_And if I start a commotion_

_I run the risk of losing you and that's worse"_

- The Buzzcocks

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* * *

  
**

Kevin leaned against the side of his car with his arms crossed, staring dully into the schoolyard. It was 3:08 according to his watch, which meant he'd been waiting there for almost ten minutes. And if there was one thing he hated, it was waiting for people. Especially if waiting for them meant sitting out here in front of a fancy prep school, feeling the awkward stares from rich kids galore as they passed him on their way out. He increased the venom in his stare, spurring a few clean-cut freshmen to scurry out of his view, pointing at him and whispering nervously. They probably thought he was here to kill somebody, which he just might do if he had to sit out here another minute.

A flash of red hair in the sea of kids in front of him made him look up. _There_ she was. About damn time.

She was walking with two other girls, her arms loaded with books, smiling quietly as her friends chattered about nothing. Her long red hair began to blow in a light breeze, and she instinctively tucked it behind her ear.

Kevin snapped back into reality and realized he was slipping off the car. He corrected his footing and pretended nothing had happened, cementing the idea with an extra glare at everyone around him.

"Gwen!" he yelled impatiently, arms still crossed.

She looked up and caught sight of him, and her slight smile widened into a grin. With a quick goodbye to her two friends, she walked up to the car, amid curious whispers and stares from the crowd of schoolmates around her. Everyone seemed to be wondering why the brilliant and beautiful Gwen Tennyson was associating herself with such a scary-looking guy.

"Where the hell were you?" Kevin demanded, his tone biting and unfriendly. He was in a bad mood and ready for a fight; whether it was physical or verbal was immaterial to him.

But Gwen's smile remained. "Sorry, I had to run to my locker after class let out."

She was refusing to take his bait, and that frustrated him all the more.

"Seems like you were really hurrying," he growled sarcastically, snatching her textbooks out of her hands and tucking them under one arm.

Gwen smirked up at him, putting one hand on her hip and cocking her head to the side playfully. "Have a bad day?" she teased.

Kevin looked away from her, frowning stubbornly. With that, he realized that almost everyone in the schoolyard had now noticed his presence, and most of the staring faces looked not a little disapprovingly at the rough-looking outsider.

"Let's get out of here," Gwen said pressingly, looking slightly nervous. She had noticed them too.

"Yeah." Kevin opened Gwen's door and let her in the car, then walked around to his side. Before getting in, he glanced over the preppy crowd once more, a triumphant smirk playing across his face.

The CD player in his car was playing Judas Priest's "Screaming for Vengeance," and it was with another smirk that Kevin turned the volume all the way up to blasting as he pulled out of the school driveway and skidded off down the street.

* * *

Gwen glanced at him and shook her head with a sigh.

Kevin felt her look and scoffed. "What? Don't tell me you're embarrassed. You can't possibly be friends with any of those creeps."

"That's not the point, Kevin," she reached out and turned the volume back down to normal, "You're letting them get to you."

"I am not!" he protested, "They're just a bunch of snobby rich kids. Probably thought I was kidnapping you."

"Whatever. We're picking up Ben from soccer practice now, right?" That was her signal to end the conversation, and she turned to look out the window at the passing scenery.

"Apparently, Loverboy has a date with Julie, so he needs a ride to the park as well."

Gwen sighed and stared straight ahead with a faraway look in her eyes. Without averting her gaze, she reached out with her left hand and fumbled for the CD player volume, then cranked it up again. The car stereo began to scream out Judas Priest once again.

Kevin stared at her for a split second, a little surprised, then grinned to himself and returned his attention to the road.

* * *

Ben was on the phone as soon as he got in the car, soccer bag on his shoulder and grass all over his shirt. "Hey, Julie—yeah, I just got finished. So we'll meet at the park in about fifteen?"

Gwen turned to the backseat and raised an eyebrow, looking Ben up and down pointedly.

Ben got the message and stared down at himself. He was a sweaty mess. "Better make that thirty, I really need to shower."

"You know," Gwen said playfully when Ben hung up the phone, "I can't believe I still have to tell you to shower before a date. Have you learned nothing?"

Ben smirked at her. "It's not like you have any more dating experience than I do."

Low blow. Gwen's face turned sullen and Kevin winced slightly.

"That's not _my_ fault," Gwen said bitterly, glaring at Kevin, who suddenly seemed very interested in keeping his eyes on the road.

"Not _this_ again," he muttered, frowning. Gwen kept her narrowed eyes on his face all the way to Ben's house, and Kevin felt himself growing more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"I'll be about fifteen minutes or so," said Ben, getting out of the backseat, "You guys want to come in and wait?"

"No, that's okay. Go ahead." Gwen kept her eyes on Kevin. Ben shrugged and sped off into the house.

* * *

Kevin fought to keep from looking in Gwen's direction, drumming his fingers on the dashboard, fiddling with his keys, _anything_. She didn't move.

Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore.

"What?!" he snapped, turning to stare her in the face. She said nothing, just looked at him, her brilliant green eyes seeing right through him, through every facade he put up.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Kevin recovered and sat back in his seat. "You got something to say, say it and get it over with."

Gwen finally looked away with a scoff. "I was about to tell you the same thing." With that, she opened the car door and got out, taking extra care to slam it shut behind her.

"Hey!" Kevin yelled, glaring at her retreating back. She didn't turn around, just kept walking toward Ben's front door, but from the brisk way she was moving, Kevin knew she was royally pissed.

A few minutes later, Ben came back out and got in the car again, this time in the front seat. Kevin looked at him pointedly.

"Well? Where is she?"

"She's not coming," Ben said casually, tying his shoe, "She's going to walk home in a few minutes, after she cools down a bit. What did you _do?_"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Kevin protested in frustration, his face red with anger and embarassment, "She just got mad and stormed off all of a sudden!"

"Well, you must have done _something_," Ben said with a slight smirk, "because she was on the verge of tears, and Gwen _never_ cries."

Kevin's glance shot back to the house. "She was _crying?!_"

"I said she was about to cry, not that she was," replied Ben, "Now can we go? Julie's waiting."

With a perplexed frown, Kevin started the car and sped off down the street. Gwen was about to cry over him? He had never viewed her as the type to take crap from anybody, and just now when he'd snapped at her, she didn't fight him back.

Did she really like him that much?

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_So, what do you guys think? Read & review, let me know if I should continue._

_NEXT CHAPTER: I Predict A Riot!_


	2. I Predict A Riot

_So yeah, here's Chapter Two! This one is where things start to get interesting. Lots of foreshadowing, if you take my meaning. MWAHAHAHAHAHA. Anyway, read it and stuff. Yeah. Lots of Gwevin moments! But would you read this if there weren't? ;D

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_

**Love Her Madly**

**Chapter Two**

**I Predict A Riot**

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**_"You can't start a fire_

_You can't start a fire without a spark._

_This gun's for hire_

_Even if we're just dancing in the dark."_

_- Bruce Springsteen

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_

The next day was a Saturday, and Ben went over to Gwen's house early to see what kind of mood she was in. Much to his surprise, she was up, sitting cross-legged on her bed surrounded by a mountain of school papers. As her cousin entered the room, she looked up, then turned down her stereo with a pink beam of energy.

"Morning," Ben said, hands in his pockets.

She grinned at him mischievously. "Okay, what do you need? You never come over here _this_ early unless you need to bum smoothie money."

Ben sheepishly grinned. "That would be mean to say if it weren't true most of the time," he said, flopping into a chair in the corner, "But actually, I just came to check on you."

Gwen shrugged. "I'm fine, just catching up on homework. Fighting aliens almost every day can really take a toll on your study time, not that _you'd_ know." With a smirk, she shut her open textbook and set it aside.

"That wasn't really what I meant," Ben said, choosing his words carefully, "I meant—about what happened yesterday with Kevin."

Gwen laughed. "It's sweet of you to worry about me, Ben, but I can take care of myself, Kevin or no Kevin. Frankly, I'm more concerned for _him_."

Ben gaped at her. "What do you mean, you're concerned for him?" Visions of Gwen inflicting serious bodily harm on Kevin filled his mind, and they weren't that hard to imagine occurring in real life.

"I mean, he's going to be disappointed with himself when he realizes I won't wait for him forever. You've seen how jealous he gets when I'm around other guys. But if Kevin thinks he can act like we're a couple only when he finds it convenient, he's going to get the surprise of his life when I stop turning down every other guy who asks me out."

Suddenly, Ben's cell phone began vibrating in his pocket. "Hello?" he answered.

It was Kevin. "Meet me at the garage in ten minutes."

Ben frowned slightly. "Trouble?"

"Would I be calling you to come and bother me if there wasn't?" A resounding click on the other end. Kevin was obviously in a _very_ friendly mood.

"That was Kevin," Ben said, replacing his phone in his pocket.

Gwen's head shot up, eyes wide, then she caught herself and tried to act like she hadn't heard. "And?"

"And it sounded important, so we should get going."

She narrowed her eyes and reached for her shoes. "Like we have a choice," she grumbled, then ran downstairs.

Ben couldn't suppress a wicked grin. She was pretending like she didn't care, but she _totally _did.

* * *

Kevin didn't really know what he was going to say to her when he saw her. Probably as little as possible. He sighed, his arms crossed, as he paced around the garage for warmth. Why were women so damn _complicated?_ They got mad when you did too much, and they got mad when you did too little.

"Kevin?"

He looked up and there she was, looking like a flame-haired angel in front of the gray of the sky. And all the planned retorts he had thought up to use against her when he saw her again went out of his head with a puff of smoke. All he could do was stare for a few seconds.

"This better be important," she grumbled, her teeth chattering as she clutched her arms for warmth, "because so far I see nothing that justifies coming all the way out here in this weather."

"Is _this_ important enough for you?" Kevin glared at her and threw open the trunk of his car with one hand. "It was like this when I opened it this morning. The car's been in here all night, and the doors to the garage were locked when I got here."

The trunk, which usually housed almost all of Kevin's extremely valuable Alien Tech, was completely empty. Kevin's stomach wrenched again at the sight of it. So much _money_, down the drain.

Gwen's expression changed from defiant to concerned, and she touched his shoulder gingerly. "Who could have-"

"It doesn't matter _who_," he replied shortly, gently shrugging her hand off, "It matters that they _did_. And I'm going to waste them when we find them."

"Now _that's_ the Kevin I like to hear," said Ben with a mischievous smile.

Gwen sighed and placed her hand in the trunk, searching for a trace of the culprits so they could track them down. "DNAliens," she muttered, eyes closed, "They were here more than 6 hours ago. Could be anywhere by now."

Suddenly, a blinding flash within her mind made Gwen gasp and jump back. A face appeared in front of her eyes, a face with long red hair and a wicked smile, then vanished just as suddenly as she stumbled and fell backward in a dead faint.

* * *

"Gwen?!" Kevin cried, leaping to catch her before she hit her head on the concrete floor.

"What happened?" Ben asked frantically, grabbing Gwen's shoulder and jostling her. "Gwen, wake up! Are you okay?"

Kevin grabbed Ben's wrist and wrenched it off her. "Quit shaking her, man. Just give her a second." He looked down at her, frowning anxiously. "Gwen," he whispered, placing a hand on one side of her face, "come on. Wake up."

Gwen groaned and arched her back as if in pain. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Oh, thank GOD," Ben exclaimed, sitting back and smiling with relief, "My aunt would've _killed_ me."

Kevin stared down at Gwen and sharply exhaled, realizing that he'd been holding his breath the whole time. "Gwen," he murmured, still looking genuinely worried, "Are you okay? What happened just now?"

Gwen put a hand to her forehead. "I don't know," she said weakly, "I just saw a flash and then a face appeared in front of me..." She tried to sit up, but her strength failed her and she flopped back into Kevin's arms.

"Don't," he said sharply, "Just don't try to move for a few minutes. I've got you."

"Whose face was it?" Ben asked, leaning over her slightly.

"Mine," she whispered, feeling weaker by the second, "except it had...red eyes..." With that, she fainted once more, her head falling back limply.

"Gwen!" Ben shouted.

"We have to get her inside," Kevin said quickly, standing up with Gwen cradled in his arms, "Come on."

* * *

Gwen threw back her head and laughed in triumph as her cousin slumped to the floor, defeated. "Sorry, Ben," she called to him, "but there's no way you can defeat me _now_."

"Gwen!" She whirled around at the sound of her name, knowing who she would find.

Kevin stood in front of her, panting, covered in deep, bloody gashes. His right eye was purple and swollen shut, and his left was staring at her with a burning hatred.

"Still alive?" Gwen asked, looking amused, "I suppose you _do_ enjoy being torn into pieces by me; after all, I _am_ the girl of your dreams, right?"

His murderous stare deepened. "Stop this, Gwen. Stop it _right now_. Or I swear to you, I'll-"

With a flick of her wrist, his hands were seized by a ribbon of pink energy and forced out to his sides. He yelled in pain, gritting his teeth, but his eyes never left hers.

She walked forward and stood about six inches away from him, laughing under her breath and shaking her head. He glared at her and struggled against his bonds, trying to lunge forward at her, but to no avail; she had him in an unbreakable vice.

"You'll _what?_" she asked, feigning innocence, "You'll kill me?"

Her hand reached up and brushed the hair away from his face softly. He winced at her touch.

"You don't have it in you to destroy me, do you?" Smiling seductively, she slowly brought his face down to hers and gently kissed him.

When she released him, he looked at her with a pained and defeated expression, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

Gwen smiled sweetly. "See what I mean? You're pathetic. You can't bring yourself to fight back."

Her free hand began to glow and spark with a ball of energy. She stepped back and laughed one last time, a single tear flowing down her cheek.

"Goodbye, Kevin." And she fired.

* * *

"NO!" Gwen woke with a start and leapt forward—straight into Kevin. Crying out in fright, she squirmed and fought him, trying to get away from his grasp.

"Hey!" he yelled in surprise, "Gwen! Hey! Calm down! What's wrong with you?!"

As reality began to return to her mind once again, she stopped writhing in his arms and fell limply against his chest, sobbing. Her hands were shaking and she was covered in a cold sweat.

"What is it?" Kevin asked urgently, "What's the matter?"

She didn't answer him, just continued weeping and gasping for breath. After a few moments, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her close to him. "Shh," he murmured into her ear, "Stop it. Calm down. Everything's okay."

The door to the room opened and in walked Ben, carrying a bowl of cool water and a washcloth, which he set down next to them. "What did you _do_, Kevin?"

Over the top of Gwen's head, Kevin shot him a sharp glance that told him now was definitely _not _the time.

"Okay, okay, sorry," Ben muttered, "I'm gonna go call my mom and tell her what happened." He shut the door behind him.

Gwen looked around. They were in a small bedroom with a single window that revealed the gray sky outside. Next to the bed was a nightstand, and on it the clock read 12:27 pm. She had been out for the past hour.

Realizing that Gwen's sobs had died down into whimpers, Kevin took her shoulders gently and held her in front of him. "Now tell me. What did you see?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head.

"Gwen," he raised an eyebrow, "Tell me."

She shook her head again, looking away.

Kevin sighed. She was just as stubborn as he was. "Okay, you don't have to tell me. But we still need to figure out what it was earlier that totally sapped your strength and made you pass out. It can't be the DNAliens or even a Highbreed, because neither of those have ever affected you like this before. This is something new, something we haven't faced yet."

"A shapeshifter?"

He nodded. "Maybe. That would explain why you saw a version of your own face."

Gwen gingerly put a hand to her forehead, wincing. "I've been passed out for the last hour?"

Kevin nodded. "Out cold. Then about five minutes ago you started kicking and screaming." He reached over and grabbed the washcloth Ben had brought in, then dunked it in the cool water and wrung it out. "Here." He handed it to her.

She took it and sponged off her face, which had been soaked with tears and sweat, then handed it back. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Listen," he said after a minute, running a hand through his hair awkwardly, "about yesterday..."

She smiled weakly. "Don't worry about it. I was in a bad mood and I overreacted."

He hesitated, then nodded, looking a little embarrassed.

Gwen's smile faded as she remembered the way his face had looked in her dream—betrayed, hurt, anguished. With a sharp intake of breath, she suddenly jumped forward and threw her arms around him.

"Whoa!" Kevin yelled in surprise, almost falling off the bed, "Gwen? What are you-"

She was holding him tightly, as if afraid he'd get up and run away from her. Her head lay on his chest, eyes screwed shut.

After a few seconds' hesitation, he returned the embrace, still unsure of what this was all about, but finding that he didn't give a damn what it was.

* * *

A few minutes later, the door opened and Ben burst in. "My mom's on her way. How's Gwen?"

Kevin put a finger to his lips, smirking, and pointed to Gwen, who was sound asleep once more, her arms still wrapped around his waist.

Ben looked bewildered for a moment, and then his face erupted into a goofy grin. "_Nice_," he whispered, folding his arms.

* * *

_Yay, another one down! So yeah, this is going to be a mystery-thriller as well, but you won't mind that, will you? And don't think that they've "gotten together yet." I don't do stuff like that in Chapter Two. That's for, like Chapter Eight or something. _

_Read and review and stuff. Constructive criticism would be nice too. :D_

_NEXT CHAPTER: Changes!  
_


	3. Changes

**Love Her Madly**

**Chapter Three:**

**Changes**

* * *

_"She was my woman_

_I loved her so_

_But it's too late now_

_I've let her go."_

_- Black Sabbath_

* * *

That evening, Kevin and Ben went back to his car to inspect the trunk.

"There had to be something in here that made Gwen react like that," Kevin muttered, frowning as he clicked it open.

"Until we know what it is, don't reach in there," Ben replied, leaning forward to peer inside.

"Do I look like a _moron_ to you?!" Kevin snapped, roughly elbowing the younger boy aside. Ben scowled, rubbing his arm.

"I'm just as worried as you are, Kevin!"

Kevin didn't respond, but his scowl grew deeper as his eyes searched the trunk intently for anything suspicious.

But the trunk was clean, completely bare. Nothing here for Gwen to touch that could have produced such a violent reaction. So what happened to her?

* * *

Gwen's eyes fluttered open, and she moaned. She had a splitting headache, and her limbs ached all over.

Impulsively, she felt for Kevin's arm and touched nothing but the mattress beside her, then sat up, realizing that she was at home in her own bedroom. Had it all been a dream?

She sighed, her long red hair draping down over her shoulders. Flashes of pain kept spiking in her forehead, and she clutched her temples with both hands, eyes screwed shut.

What was _happening_ to her?

The door to the bedroom eased open, and her mother leaned in, looking concerned. "Gwen, honey, are you feeling okay?"

Gwen looked up at her pleadingly, hands still clutching the sides of her head. "Mom, where's Ben? And Kevin? I need to talk to them."

* * *

Kevin pulled the car into the abandoned lot, casting a wary eye at his surroundings. "I don't know what you're coming with us for. You should have stayed at home and rested," he grumbled, glaring straight ahead.

Gwen rolled her eyes, trying desperately to disguise the exquisite pain she was in. "I'm _fine_," she replied shortly, running a hand through her hair, "I was still able to pick up the trace earlier before I passed out, so I'm the only one who knew where to go!"

She had led them to a deserted clearing at the edge of a large wood. A concrete foundation and a few stacks of bricks and rubble were all that remained of an old auto garage that had been torn down more than twenty years before. The grass around it was tall and unkempt, and it was clear that the three of them had been the first visitors there in a long time.

"The point is, _you passed out!_" Kevin snapped angrily, "If whatever this is had that much effect on you, the logical thing to do would be to stay the hell away from it no matter what!"

Gwen glared at him. "I can take care of myself, Kevin. I'm not afraid to put myself in danger for the team. You should know that by now."

He scowled, unable to think of a smart enough reply, and instead turned on Ben, who was sitting in the backseat quietly, watching them. "What the hell are _you_ looking at, Tennyson?"

Ben scowled right back at him, got out of the car, and slammed the door.

"I'm gonna kill that little-"

"Oh, leave him alone!" Gwen let herself out as well, leaving Kevin to his own grumblings.

* * *

Gwen shivered at the freezing night air. In her haste to get out the door, she'd only thrown on a light jacket, and now she was regretting it.

The grass blades in the field were almost up to her knees and covered in a light frost. She stared intently into the weeds, scanning for another hint of the aliens she knew had been there only hours before.

"It's the perfect time of year for the Highbreed, anyway," she muttered, teeth chattering, "No need for a weather machine to make it absolutely freezing outside."

Ben nodded in agreement, rubbing his hands together and blowing into them to keep warm. "Should have brought some gloves," he said with a smirk. He turned to Kevin, who had finally decided to get out of the car and was walking towards them with a scowl.

"How are _you_ not cold?" Ben whined, staring at Kevin incredulously. Kevin wasn't even shivering, and all _he_ had on was a short-sleeved tee shirt.

Kevin rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets. "The Null Void, idiot," he growled, "Once you've been in there long enough, even snow isn't that cold anymore."

Gwen drew her arms up around her shoulders, still searching the grass before them with narrowed eyes. "I _know_ they were here," she said shakily, "but I can't trace anything."

"Then we should go," said Ben, "We can come back tomorrow when it's a little warmer."

"No!" Gwen shook her head stubbornly, "When it's warmer they won't be anywhere near here. They're close by, and we're going to find them _now_."

A blinding screech suddenly made her yell in surprise and pain. Clutching her head, which felt like it was about to explode, she crumpled to her knees.

"Gwen!" Kevin rushed forward and grabbed her shoulder, "What is it?"

"That screeching noise, it _hurts_," Gwen moaned, gritting her teeth.

"What screeching noise?" asked Ben, looking around.

She grabbed on to Kevin's shirt, leaning her forehead against him to steady herself. "You can't _hear_ it?!" she screamed, trembling in agony.

"Ben!" Kevin shouted, "Turn into Jetray! See if you see anything in the woods around us!"

With a green flash of light, Jetray appeared and took off into the sky.

"DNAliens! Hundreds, coming straight for us!"

"Shit!" Kevin cried, "Come on, Ben, we've got to get her out of here!" He stood, cradling Gwen in his arms. She was completely tensed up, hissing with pain and clutching at his shirt sleeves.

"Don't worry, Gwen, we're going," Kevin murmured, racing toward the car.

Suddenly, the DNAliens sprung from the woods and leapt into his path, snarling viciously.

"Get the hell out of my way!" he snapped, eyes filled with murder.

"Give us the girl, human," the leader DNAlien growled, "and we _might_ let you go."

A burst of flame leapt out at the DNAlien army from behind. Ben had changed into Swampfire. "Miss me?" Swampfire said with a smirk, sending another blast at the enemy aliens.

The leader DNAlien looked taken aback for a moment, then turned its attention back to Kevin and Gwen. "Grab the girl!" it ordered, and at least twenty DNAliens charged.

Kevin looked around frantically for something to absorb, and realized there was nothing.

"Gwen!" he nudged her urgently, "Can you make a shield around us?"

Gwen nodded and raised her hand painfully. A pink force field formed in front of them, and the charging DNAliens collided with it with a resounding _thud_.

The leader DNAlien seemed to be unfazed; Kevin couldn't really tell, because it was hard to read the expression of something that didn't have a face. "Resistance is futile, human," the leader hissed, "Turn her over to us, and we promise not to hurt her."

"I find _that_ hard to believe," Kevin snapped, backing away warily.

The leader chuckled harshly. "Very well," it snarled, producing a small disc-like contraption, "You leave us no choice."

It pressed a button in the center of the disc, and Gwen screamed in agony.

"Gwen?!" Kevin looked down at her, startled. What was _happening _to her?

"NO! STOP! PLEASE!" she shrieked, arching her back, eyes wide and staring, hands clutching at the air.

"What are you _doing _to her?!" Swampfire demanded, having finally fought his way to the leader DNAlien.

"Gwen!" Kevin yelled, "No!" She was kicking and writhing in his arms, trying to escape, trying to flee.

"It's too late!" the leader cackled, "Your precious little angel is lost to you forever!"

"What the hell are you _talking_ about?!" Swampfire grabbed the leader by the throat and held him up at arms length.

"You can't hear it, can you? The noise this piece of technology makes is absolute _torture_ for a spiritual being like her. Like a sort of living death. And she will never be the same again!" With a snap, the small disc vanished into thin air before Swampfire could grab hold of it. Gwen continued to scream.

With a snarl, Swampfire tossed the leader into another group of DNAlien soldiers, knocking them all down.

"Ben! Keep them away from here!" Kevin shouted, straining to hold onto Gwen. Swampfire nodded and began to hurl flames at the DNAlien swarm right and left.

Kevin sank to his knees, still fighting to hold Gwen still. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he clutched her to his chest. She wouldn't stop screaming, that terrible, agonizing screaming…

And suddenly she fell silent. Her arms fell limply to her sides, and she slumped forward onto his shoulder.

"Gwen?" Kevin hesitated a moment, then pulled her back to cradle her in his arms. She didn't respond. He put a hand to her cheek. She was ice cold.

"She's not _breathing!_" he screamed, feeling for a pulse in her neck and getting nothing. "GWEN!"

_

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_

_OH NO! Read and review or you'll never find out what happens next! And wouldn't that suck?_

_Next chapter: "A Martyr For My Love For You."_


	4. A Martyr For My Love For You

_Okay, just to let you guys know, this chapter might be a little confusing, but all will be revealed as the story continues! Just bear with me! :D_

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* * *

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**Love Her Madly**

**Chapter Four:**

**A Martyr For My Love For You**

* * *

_"I don't know that I will ever love again_

_It's the price that I must pay for all my sins_

_Time has changed me and left me full of doubt_

_And my heart may be lost, never to be found."_

_-Alison Krauss_

* * *

Swampfire shrank back into Ben as the Omnitrix timed out. Ben raced past the hordes of DNAliens that were steadily approaching him and sped towards Kevin and Gwen faster than he'd ever run before as a human.

"Kevin! Is she-"

Kevin was crumpled over Gwen's limp form, his face buried in her shoulder. "Come on, Gwen," he was urging over and over, "Come on, _fight this_. You can't give up on us now. You _never_ give up."

Ben sank to his knees in defeat, eyes wide and staring, mouth open in shock. "No," he whispered, "She _can't_ be dead, she _can't_ be."

Kevin held her tightly to his chest and ran a hand through her long red hair. "WAKE UP!" he screamed, his voice muffled by her shirt, "WAKE UP NOW!"

She didn't move.

The DNAliens crowded around them menacingly, and the leader stepped forward. "There, you see?" it said with a mocking tone, "If you had cooperated, we wouldn't have had to take her life."

Ben growled and stood up, fists clenched. "You _bastards!_" he screamed, ready to fight them all even without the Omnitrix.

"And now," the leader said, "we'll be taking her body back with us, if you don't mind."

"You'll have to kill us first!" Ben snapped, tears brimming in his eyes.

Kevin finally pulled away from Gwen, staring down at her lifeless face as if in a trance.

"If that is your wish," said the leader nonchalantly, drawing a gun and aiming it for Ben's chest.

Suddenly, Kevin darted forward and tackled the DNAlien, wrestling the gun out of his hand and tossing it away.

"I'M GONNA RIP YOU TO SHREDS!" Kevin screamed hoarsely, pounding the alien's soft head over and over again with his fists until slime poured from its brain.

The DNAliens charged at him, swarming over him like bees in a hive. Ben watched in horror as Kevin mercilessly killed one after the other. It was like he'd become his eleven-year-old self again, vicious and bloodthirsty and without conscience.

Suddenly, a red-hot blast struck Ben square between the shoulder blades, and the forest grew dim as he fell heavily to the earth.

* * *

Kevin looked up when he heard the blast, eyes blazing madly. "Ben!" he yelled, his voice almost totally gone now. Immediately, the DNAliens he hadn't beaten down yet began to flee for the cover of the woods.

A tall young man stood right behind where Ben had fallen, redirecting his stun gun at Kevin. He had black hair and eyes hidden behind sunglasses, and his clothes looked to be from the future.

"Who the fuck are _you?!_" Kevin demanded, panting, his eyes narrowed.

The young man smirked at him, gun still held aloft. "Hello, Kevin. I don't expect you to remember me. After all, you aren't even supposed to know I exist."

Kevin glared at the stranger. "You're the one behind all this, aren't you?!"

The stranger chuckled. "It's my own way of saying thank you, Kevin. And I think you've gotten the point, haven't you?"

With a growl, Kevin lunged at him, but was blasted backward by a wall of flame shooting from the young man's arm.

"I've killed your little angel, Kevin. And now, I'm going to make you suffer even more."

With that, the stranger fired the stun gun, and Kevin collapsed to the ground with a groan. The last image he saw before his world went black was Gwen's lifeless body, lying still…so very still…

* * *

Ben hissed in pain as he slowly came to, sitting up and clutching at his chest. A stun gun. Someone had shot him in the back with one.

But where were all the DNAliens? Where was Gwen? And Kevin?

Then his eyes caught sight of the older boy, who was lying on his side about twenty feet away, out cold.

"K-Kevin!" Ben winced as he stumbled to his feet and limped over to his friend. He put a hand on Kevin's shoulder and shook him gingerly. "Kevin, wake up!"

With an inhuman snarl, Kevin sprang to life and seized Ben's wrist. Ben yelled in surprise and yanked his arm away. "Aaah!"

Kevin glared up at him with his teeth bared, eyes completely devoid of any trace of human feeling. His face was deathly pale and covered in sweat.

Ben swallowed. "Are you okay?"

Kevin just looked at him.

"We need to get you out of here," Ben decided, trying to help the older boy to his feet but getting his hand slapped away.

"_Don't touch me_." Kevin's voice was harsh, barely above a whisper. Ben, for the first time in what seemed like forever, actually felt afraid of him.

"Gwen's gone," Ben cried urgently, "They must have taken her body with them. We have to find them, we have to get her back-"

"She's DEAD!" Kevin screamed, grabbing the other boy by the collar of his shirt and lifting him off the ground, "There is no 'her' anymore! There is no Gwen! I _felt her die_, Ben!"

With that, Kevin flung Ben to the ground and covered his face with his hands. "_I killed her_," he whispered, breath coming in short gasps. Just like he'd caused the death of his mother, his father, countless others, he had now caused the death of the one girl who'd ever treated him like he was worth anything.

"Whoever that was, he was after _me,_" he muttered, tears pouring down his face, "He wanted to hurt _me_, so he ordered them to kill her."

Gwen's face flashed in his mind, smiling and carefree. He remembered her face after they'd argued, remembered the way she'd clung to him so tightly when she was scared, remembered the way she had forgiven him so easily for the way he'd treated her. "Gwen," he murmured, staring at the ground in front of him, "what have I _done _to you?"

"Oh my god," Ben cried after a moment, eyes running with tears as well, "How am I gonna tell my aunt and uncle?"

"You're not," Kevin said, lifting his head, "Not yet. Not until we kill every last one of those bastards who did it to her. We're not going back home until they're all _dead_."

* * *

She awoke with a scream of terror, a scream which abated as she realized the pain she had been feeling was gone. Pressing a clammy hand to her forehead, she moaned and sat up in bed.

She was in a small bedroom, surrounded by futuristic gadgets and machines. A large window took up nearly one entire wall and gave a clear view of the sea and the midnight sky above it.

This was _her_ room.

A small knock at the door interrupted her confused thoughts, and in walked a tall boy of about sixteen, with black hair and dark eyes.

"Gwen? You okay?"

"Who are you?" she asked hesitantly, sitting up straighter and looking suspicious.

The boy looked bewildered. "Kevin," he replied, "Your _boyfriend_."

Something in his words made her relax. "Oh." That was right. He _was _her boyfriend.

"You collapsed a few minutes ago when those two shape-shifters attacked us," he explained, sitting on the bed next to her, "You can't remember any of that?"

She frowned slightly. "It's starting to come back now."

He looked at her remorsefully. "I would rather it didn't," he murmured, reaching up to caress her cheek.

"What do you mean?"

"The shape-shifters…" he hesitated, "they attacked your parents."

Her eyes widened. "Mom and Dad? Are they-"

He shook his head sadly.

Tears sprang to her eyes and she gasped. "No! Why would they want to hurt my parents?! What did they ever do to anyone?"

He ran a hand through his hair, looking regretful. "Well," he explained, "one of the shape-shifters…he calls himself Kevin too, and he said something about wanting you for himself. I guess he was jealous of our relationship…and when he couldn't have you, he decided to hurt you in the easiest way possible." He took her hand in both of his, looking her straight in the eye.

A sob escaped her throat and she covered her mouth, eyes still wide in horror. Her parents…her mother and father…_butchered_ by this other Kevin because of _jealousy?!_

With that thought, her green eyes narrowed and she lifted her head.

"Which way did he escape to?" she asked, "I'm going to make him pay. They're _all _going to pay for what they've done."

* * *

_Lol, that's SO not her room. Or her boyfriend. :D _

_But anyway. This was a DARK chapter. Like, ANGST ANGST ANGST. _

_Read & review, por favor._

_Next Chapter: "Heartbreaker!"_


	5. Heartbreaker

Oh mannn, this was a toughie. Like, fuhrelz. But yeah. Read, review, etc.

By the way, can anyone guess who the stranger dude is? I'm sure you're all pretty close, but there's a hidden twist to it you might not expect! :D

**_

* * *

_**

**Love Her Madly**

**Chapter Five:**

**Heartbreaker**

* * *

"_I know time reveals in hindsight_

_I can hand wrestle with the stormy night_

_Because your love lasts a lifetime_

_But I can see you through the snowblind_

_But I wasn't there for you."_

_- System of a Down_

* * *

It was only to sneak into his room and toss a few essentials into a backpack that Ben returned to his house that night. He was careful not to make a sound, as his parents were surely looking for him by now, and Gwen's parents would be sure to do the same when they realized she wasn't home.

Gwen's parents…what was he going to tell them? How could he possibly tell his aunt and uncle that their only daughter was dead?

Blinking back fresh tears, Ben climbed back out of his bedroom window and leapt down to Kevin's car waiting below.

* * *

Kevin hadn't said a word since they'd left the woods. His eyes burned into the road straight ahead of them, as if he were trying to make it explode by sheer force of mind. Ben knew without any doubt that the easygoing Kevin from just a few hours before, the one who used to tease him, the one who would turn red whenever anyone mentioned Gwen's name, was gone forever, and in his place was someone emotionless and friendless, much like Kevin had been when Ben had first met him five years ago.

Suddenly, Kevin slammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt.

Ben cried out in surprise as his head collided with the side window, then fell silent when he realized what they had stopped for.

In the woods in front of them stood a solitary DNAlien soldier, who seemed to be on patrol, and who, luckily, hadn't seen or heard the car.

"We've found them," Ben murmured, "I didn't think they'd be this _close_. Unless they _want_ us to find them, if they're setting us up-"

"It doesn't matter," Kevin muttered dismissively, staring straight ahead, "I'm gonna take care of it."

Ben felt a chill run down his spine. Something in Kevin's voice spelled 'slaughter,' and even the aliens in the Omnitrix probably couldn't stop him from exacting his bloody revenge in the state he was in.

With an animalistic growl, Kevin suddenly jumped out of the car, swiped his fingers across the hood, and raced the thirty yards or so to the unsuspecting DNAlien sentry. Ben watched in horror as the older boy leapt on the creature's back and used his now-metal hand to stab all the way through its chest.

As the DNAlien guard's corpse fell to the earth, Kevin turned back to look at Ben, who remained motionless in the passenger seat of the car. His face was unsmiling and stoic, his right arm now covered in slimy DNAlien blood. With his eyes, he was telling Ben not to follow him into the DNAlien stronghold. He didn't want Ben to see the things he was about to do.

Before Ben could do anything one way or the other, Kevin turned on his heel and sped off into the woods.

* * *

She glared at the wall in front of her, angry tears still brimming in her eyes. "I'm going to _kill_ them all for what they've done," she murmured, clenching her fists.

"That's my girl." Her boyfriend wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind and kissed her neck. She didn't move.

Suddenly, a red light above the doorway to the room began to blink on and off. "Intruder alert!" There was a great rush of sound behind the closed door, obviously the DNAliens mobilizing to defend the fortress from whatever it was.

Her boyfriend sprang to his feet and ran into the hallway, then returned a few seconds later. "It's him!" he cried urgently, "He's back to finish us off!"

She stood up, feeling a little woozy but shaking it off. "This time," she said icily, hands glowing with power, "he's not getting away."

* * *

Kevin stared at the carnage before him and realized he should be feeling at least a hint of remorse for what he had done.

But he didn't.

He was enjoying this, every second of it, wanting more, feeling this _hunger_ to kill anything and everything that got in his way.

Laser blasts began ringing out from beyond the gates of the fortress before him. He dodged them easily, leaping with inhuman agility, and reached out to absorb a large boulder in front of him. His skin now covered with a protective stone shell, he charged full-speed at the tall gate, knocking it over on impact.

A harsh laugh from above made Kevin look up sharply, teeth bared, eyes full of hatred.

On a platform about twenty feet above his head stood the mysterious dark-haired stranger, eyes still covered by dark sunglasses.

"You're making me very happy, Kevin," the stranger said almost wistfully, "I think there may be hope for you yet."

"Shut up and get down here!" snarled Kevin, fists clenched.

"Don't get so angry," the stranger said with a smirk, "It feels good, doesn't it? All this killing. This is what you were meant for, Kevin. You're a _killer_."

Kevin said nothing, his eyes still gleaming with fury.

"You can't deny it, can you?" The stranger chuckled. "Without your little girlfriend, all you're good for is murder."

"That's not true," Kevin hissed, his clenched fists shaking, but he didn't sound convinced.

"Did you really believe the lies you told yourself? That you were a _different person_ now? That you had _changed for the better?_ Come on, Kevin. You and I both know better. You wanted to _believe_ you could change, sure, for your little red-haired angel's sake, but inside you're still the same cold-blooded sociopath you've always been."

"SHUT UP!" Kevin screamed, a hint of pleading in his voice.

"Would you like me to prove it to you?" The stranger's voice was soft, like the hiss of a serpent.

Suddenly a blast of pink light shot out at Kevin from the darkness ahead. As he flew backward into the opposite wall, his eyes grew wide with familiarity. Staring straight ahead, he slowly got to his feet, not even daring to breathe.

No way. There was no way.

"Kevin?"

Her voice. It was her voice. The voice he'd thought he'd never hear again, speaking his name in that familiar inquisitive tone.

She came into view, hands at her sides, walking calmly towards him across the clearing. Her flaming red hair hung around her face like a curtain, and her face was solemn and fatigued.

Kevin stood there, dumbstruck, unable to move or speak. How was it _possible?_ How was she still alive?

She stopped about ten feet in front of him, staring right into his eyes.

Finally Kevin found his voice. "Gwen," he murmured, "Is it really you?"

He rushed forward and enveloped her in his arms, burying his face into her neck. "Gwen," he whispered, savoring her familiar smell, the feel of her hair, the way she seemed to fit perfectly in his arms…

She didn't embrace him back, just stared straight ahead over his shoulder.

After a few seconds, she spoke.

"What you have done," she whispered harshly, her face still calm and stoic, "is unforgivable."

Before Kevin had time to comprehend what she had just said, she seized him in a vicelike grip of energy and flung him into the stone wall behind them.

* * *

Ben had finally had enough of sitting in the car, waiting for Kevin to reappear. If he was estimating right, it had been over twenty minutes since the older boy had gone, and twenty minutes was plenty of time for something to have gone horribly wrong.

He got out of the car and slammed the door, then transformed into Big Chill and took off over the trees.

* * *

"Gwen! Stop!" Kevin yelled as she tossed yet another disc of energy at his stone-covered form, "What are you doing?!"

She glared at him and said nothing, her eyes red with malice. She threw back her arm and fired again, this time hitting Kevin in the head and sending him reeling into the dirt.

Kevin cried out in pain and looked up at her, stunned. The beautiful angel before him was showing no signs that she remembered who he was, who _she_ had been, what she had been to him…

Behind her, the dark-haired stranger was grinning broadly, chuckling to himself. Kevin's eyes narrowed in hatred and he dove past Gwen, charging straight at the unknown enemy. "What did you _do_ to her?!" he demanded, closing a hand over the stranger's throat. The young man didn't seem fazed by this at all; he merely continued to smirk from behind his sunglasses.

"She _hates_ you, Kevin," the stranger whispered, voice shaking with glee, "She's trying to _kill _you. And all because of what you've done to her."

"What the fuck are you _talking _about?!" Kevin grabbed him by the shirt collar and slammed him against the wall with a snarl.

The stranger merely laughed. "_You_ left her spirit so weak that taking over her mind was child's play! By treating her the way you did, you made her easy prey, and now she's just paying you back for it!"

"I don't know who the hell you are," Kevin hissed at him, eyes gleaming, "but if you don't change her back, you're _dead!_"

"Change her back? To what? To a corpse? I've brought your little girlfriend back to life! You should be _thanking_ me, Kevin."

Suddenly, Kevin was thrown backward by another pink beam of light. Gwen tossed him to his knees, then launched a powerful kick into his spine. Kevin yelled in pain as she began to repeatedly jab and punch him, her karate skills displayed in full force.

"Gwen, stop it!" Kevin pleaded, refusing to fight back, "It's me, Kevin!"

"I know who you are!" she screamed, "You're the one who killed my family! You're the reason I'm suffering!"

"I never killed anybody! Your family's not dead!"

"LIAR!"

* * *

All of a sudden, Gwen herself was thrown backward by a blast of wind, and she fell to the ground. Kevin lifted his head to see Ben as Big Chill emerging over the treetops.

"Gwen?! What are you doing?!" Big Chill hissed, landing next to Kevin and helping the older boy to his feet.

Gwen looked at them fiercely, rubbing her shoulder where she had landed.

"She…she doesn't remember us," Kevin muttered, standing up shakily and staring down at her with an unreadable expression, "Her memory's been erased…"

She smirked at Kevin and stood up. "I remember enough," she muttered, "You killed my mother and father and left me for dead, and all because I wouldn't give myself to you."

"WHAT?!" Kevin exclaimed, gaping at her, "Is that what _he_ told you?!"

Big Chill grabbed Gwen by both shoulders. "Gwen, listen to me. You're not yourself. The DNAliens must have wiped your memory with that disc, we thought you were dead-"

"You're taking his side, Ben?!" she demanded, flinging him off her.

Kevin stared. "You - you remember him?"

"Of course I do, he's my cousin!" She clenched her fists at her sides, charging her energy. "You must have corrupted _him_ with your lies too!" And she fired an energy beam straight into Kevin's chest. He screamed in pain and fell to his hands and knees.

Big Chill leapt between them and shot a trail of ice at her, which she repelled with a pink force field.

"Ben!" Kevin yelled, still clutching his chest and wheezing miserably, "Get him! Get that guy! He's the one who did all this!" He pointed to the fortress wall, his vision growing more and more blurry by the second.

Without hesitation, Big Chill leapt into the air and dove for the tall stranger, who merely stretched out a hand and sent the alien flying back, head over heels.

Gwen immediately lunged at Kevin again once Big Chill wasn't there to protect him. "I'm gonna KILL YOU!" she shrieked, beating him over and over again.

Finally, Kevin's refusal to fight back was overwhelmed by his survival instincts, and without warning he grabbed both of her wrists and twisted her arms behind her. "Stop fighting me!" he snapped, still panting with the effort, as he flipped her over onto her back.

She screamed with rage and began to kick at him as hard as she could. He winced in pain, but held fast onto her arms.

"MURDERER!" Her red eyes began to run with angry tears. She glared up at him, her teeth bared.

"It's not true!" Kevin yelled, slamming her hands into the ground and kneeling so that his face was inches from hers, "Gwen, remember! Please!"

"While this is the most fun I've had in ages," a voice rasped from behind him, "I think it's time for you to release her, Kevin." There was a noise like the cocking of a gun.

Kevin didn't move, just stared into Gwen's eyes, his expression pleading. She glowered at him hatefully.

"Where's Ben?!" Kevin demanded, continuing to stare right back at Gwen though he was addressing the stranger.

"Alive," the stranger said simply, "But not by much. If you want him to stay that way, get off of her _now_."

After a moment's hesitation, Kevin let go of Gwen and stood up, still not averting his eyes from hers. She sat up, panting, and rubbed her wrists, the hateful expression never leaving her face.

"Gwen," the stranger said, reaching out a hand to her and helping her up while keeping the gun pointed at Kevin's head, "Are you all right?"

She nodded, still glaring at Kevin, as the stranger put an arm around her shoulders protectively.

"Get your hands off her!" Kevin snarled, clenching his fists, but was stopped by the cold muzzle of the gun pressing into his forehead.

"You don't seem to understand, Kevin. Gwen is _mine_. And she always has been." The stranger pulled the red-haired girl even closer.

"Gwen, he's lying, don't listen to-"

With a quick jerk of the wrist, Gwen jabbed him in the side of the head, and it was with a groan that Kevin crumpled to the ground at her feet.

* * *

Oh man oh man oh man. This is really getting dark. But hey, what can I say? Darkness always makes happy endings much more satisfying! :D

So what do you think? Love it? Hate it?

And like I said, I'd be interested to hear your theories on who the stranger really is! I won't say if you're right or not, but it'll at least give you bragging rights after I reveal the truth to everyone, right?

Reviews are like oxygen! PLEASEKAYTHANX.


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